PRESSURE for the return of the death penalty intensified last night after an opinion poll showed nearly two-thirds of voters want murderers to be executed.

A survey by pollsters Angus Reid, following this month’s outbreak of rioting across Britain, found 65 per cent of adults quizzed were in favour of capital punishment while only 28 per cent were opposed. And three-quarters of voters (78 per cent) want Parliament to debate the return of capital punishment.

The overwhelming call for the execution of murderers follows support for an e- petition backing the move on a Government website.

More than 17,000 people have signed the petition on direct.gov.uk, which calls for a review of Britain’s membership of international treaties which outlaw the death penalty. Under the rules of the e-petition system, ministers have to consider holding a debate if the total exceeds 100,000 backers.

The issue was last debated in the Commons in 1998, when MPs rejected a call for restoration of the death penalty by 158 votes.

I’m not surprised there is such overwhelming support for the return of capital punishment

Priti Patel, Tory MP for Witham in Essex

Priti Patel, Tory MP for Witham in Essex, said: “I’m not surprised there is such overwhelming support for the return of capital punishment. We need a serious debate about this issue in Parliament, it is long overdue.”

Fellow Tory Brian Binley, MP for Northampton South, said: “MPs have to stop being so arrogant and listen to what the public are saying. I want hanging, or some form of execution, brought back for criminals who kill police officers in pursuit of their crimes and terrorists who kill in pursuit of their political aims.”

And Andrew Turner, the Isle of Wight’s Tory MP, added: “People have felt this way for a long time but there has simply been no means for this issue to be discussed.”

A total of 2,039 randomly selected adults were questioned for the Angus Reid poll, which suggests opinion on capital punishment has hardened since the rioting and looting earlier this month led to several deaths.

A separate poll by Survation at the beginning of August – before the riots – showed 53 per cent of voters supported a return of capital punishment.

The Angus Reid poll found a majority of voters thought execution a more appropriate punishment for murder than life in prison.

Fifty-six per cent of the voters questioned said capital punishment would save taxpayers money on the cost of keeping murderers in jail.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents believed the death penalty “would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers” while 45 per cent thought it would help victims’ relatives find “closure”.

A quarter of people surveyed believed murderers could never be rehabilitated.

David Cameron is opposed to bringing back capital punishment, but some ministers, including Foreign Secretary William Hague, have spoken in favour of the measure.